Tuesday, June 21, 2011

88450km

Had a lot of different things done to the bike over the last week. I will divide it up int a whole bunch of blogposts.

Not all of it is done by me, a lot of it was handled by my friends nephew. Thank you, Dejan =)

First up is the brake-light for my Givi-box:

I like having the margins on my side, and a brake light in my top-box seemed like a good idea. Not to expensive either.. You might remember that I bought  my givi-box at MC-artikler last year. (Half my bike is from that store now =P ) - The light is also bought there, and I even got a small discount. =)

I don't have any pictures from the actual installation, but it was rather easy. I do, however, have a picture of the light in operation:


It works great, and I highly recommend it!

88230km

The horn is changed!

Remember my post about accident week? And how my horn didn't do jack shit in stopping Mr. Lorry Driver.

Well, I got a different horn from my mom's boyfriend Roger (The jacket guy). The horn is from a BMW K100LT, and it sounds quite a lot better than my "Hamster-farting-under-a-pillow" horn.
This is old horn

This is new horn

The difference is a bit difficult to hear in the videos, but in real life it is IMMENSE! This new horn sounds like a damn truck!

However, it is BIG. Huge compared to my old one, and with limited space, a bit hard to mount with ease. I did find room for it, but it isn't beautifully mounted.

I have, unfortunately, had use for my horn, and I can tell you: It is loud enough =)

88010km

Time to change the tyres!

My old tyres were just that: OLD. Old as hell, actually. And square.. And hard... And everything a tyre shouldn't be.

My Old Metzler Lasertec had seen better days. I knew, when I bought the bike last year, that they were due a replacement. After feeling insecure in wet conditions, and experiencing some wobble with cold and semi-warm tyres I decided to change them. This was probably a few miles and months too late =P

I was very keen on getting some new shoes for my lade, but I had no idea what brand to pick. The bike runs on 100/90-19 and 120/90-19, so options were a bit limited.

Most shops I contacted wanted me to try a new pair of Lazertecs. I decided I wanted to try something different, as I wasn't happy with the Lazertecs I had. (YES, I know that the tyres were old and crappy, and that new ones would be much better). I wanted something that preformed well in wet conditions, and I couldn't care less if the tyre handles 200kph+. I use the bike for commuting.


After much deliberation, one of my friends recommended that I look at some Bridgestone BT45s. I read some tests, and a couple of reviews, and I decided to go for those.

I got the work done at Motorport - It was fairly cheap (I even got a discount! THANKS!) and I had some problems with my heated grips I wanted them to check out. I also wanted to check my rear wheel bearing.
The changed the tyres, fixed the heated grips and balanced the wheels. I picked the bike up in the POURING rain, and had a rather careful drive to work. Even with the brand new and slippery rubber, I could feel that the grip was better.

I have ridden the bike for 200~km after the change, and I am much happier that I thought I would be. As always: Rubber has EVERYTHING to say about performance and feel.

I ride more confidently through curves, and it breaks much better in the wet. I do recommend these tyres!